[Kiddo Cabbusses]

May I also note that Sega also had separate mascots for Sega Channel?

The US side had "Sega Pat", the all-blue humanoid-shaped TV Holding.... guy, who was prominent in both advertising and the BIOs of the service.

The Japanese side had... what was his name? Well, thaat blue...bird...

http://blogs.yahoo.c...a/61789942.html


... yeah.

[Andlabs]

(Note: the girl in that picture represents the Game no Kanzume series, not Sega Channel; she, or possibley relatives, shows up in the two Mega CD entries.)

Does Sega of Japan still use something resembling a mascot? It looks up they're big on Phantasy Star and Shining in particular...

This post has been edited by Andlabs: 02 February 2012 - 01:09 AM

[Vangar]

Should flicky be on this list?

[Mike Arcade]

Vangar, on 02 February 2012 - 02:51 AM, said:

Should flicky be on this list?

Good point, he should! After all he is a Sega Classic.

[0r4ng3]

Don't forget this little fella.



Always brings a tear to the eye. So cute.

However, is this a mascot or an iconic character? Sega's 80's arcade or the DC library alone have a legion of iconic characters. Where do we draw the line on what's a mascot and it isn't? I honestly can't tell.

Andlabs, on 02 February 2012 - 01:08 AM, said:

Does Sega of Japan still use something resembling a mascot? It looks up they're big on Phantasy Star and Shining in particular...

I see it sometimes referenced that NiGHTS became Japan's unnoficial mascot for the Saturn days and was supposed to replace Sonic, but I wonder about the truthfulness of that. Anyway, another character that can be considered iconic for the Saturn days would be Sakura Shinguji.

Nowardays, I think Japan still uses Sonic as mascot, though not as generalised like in the west. They use him on WC signs and instructions and everything. An iconic character in Japan nowadays (or at least a year or so ago), would be Kazuma Kiryu. I'm reluntant to say Hatsune Miku. She's not Sega's, but I've seen her being paired with Sega way too much in Japan (and even in the west).

This post has been edited by 0r4ng3: 02 February 2012 - 07:09 AM

[Kiddo Cabbusses]

Andlabs, on 02 February 2012 - 01:08 AM, said:

(Note: the girl in that picture represents the Game no Kanzume series, not Sega Channel; she, or possibley relatives, shows up in the two Mega CD entries.)

I would say Sega should've used her more often, but that's my pervy mind going places. She looks like some nice rule 34 material.

[ICEknight]

Kiddo Cabbusses, on 02 February 2012 - 12:17 AM, said:

The Japanese side had... what was his name? Well, thaat blue...bird...

http://blogs.yahoo.c...a/61789942.html

Wow, that's the first time I see actual artwork of him, and an actual screenshot of Wonder Library... and what could be some scrapped cover art for Dynamite Headdy!

Thank you very much for that link.

This post has been edited by ICEknight: 02 February 2012 - 03:07 PM

[Sik]

Is it me or are people naming any well-known character as a mascot? And I don't think Sega used any mascots until they got into the console business, since in arcades nobody really cared about that kind of stuff =/

Kiddo Cabbusses, on 02 February 2012 - 01:32 PM, said:

I would say Sega should've used her more often, but that's my pervy mind going places. She looks like some nice rule 34 material.

She's nice (and much better dressed in the MCD version), but honestly, she's pretty... generic. Besides she doesn't really appear anywhere but in the title screen and game select menu (well, and the Sega scream in the MCD case). They probably put her there to make the interface less dull and nothing more.

Or was she used in Game Toshokan? (we never saw the damn thing in action so I don't think anybody knows how the interface is meant to look like...)

[Kiddo Cabbusses]

Sik, on 02 February 2012 - 06:10 PM, said:

Is it me or are people naming any well-known character as a mascot? And I don't think Sega used any mascots until they got into the console business, since in arcades nobody really cared about that kind of stuff =/

In this specific case I'm referring to a mascot as defined under "A character that was used in promotional material to sell consoles, hardware and software that may or may not actually tie in to said character in any way whatsoever."
As in, a character specifically created for marketing purposes.

In my specific examples, Sega Pat (and the blue bird dude) were used to market the Sega Channel without actually being the star of any videogame.
Sonic is considered a mascot not for his Sonic games, but for how he's prominently featured in Sega merch and promotional material that he otherwise isn't really related to.

In relation to other characters featured;
Any one that was only used in a one-shot game is not a mascot by definition, cute character design be damned.
Most of the other named examples (Strrets of Rage? Toejam and Earl?) were not used to promote Sega in anywhere -close- to the same degree as Sonic was. You don't just name every main character from every Sega 1st party franchise a mascot.

(Bug, IIRC, was a unique case of a failed mascot attempt.)

[Andlabs]

No, Game Toshokan is very bare. I posted the patch codes to bypass the modem checks a while ago =P

[0r4ng3]

Kiddo Cabbusses, on 02 February 2012 - 07:01 PM, said:

You don't just name every main character from every Sega 1st party franchise a mascot.

Yes, that's where I asked where do we draw the line.

[JaxTH]

0r4ng3, on 02 February 2012 - 07:08 AM, said:

I'm reluntant to say Hatsune Miku. She's not Sega's, but I've seen her being paired with Sega way too much in Japan (and even in the west).

Probably because SEGA does most of her concerts.

[Andlabs]

0r4ng3, on 02 February 2012 - 08:07 PM, said:

Kiddo Cabbusses, on 02 February 2012 - 07:01 PM, said:

You don't just name every main character from every Sega 1st party franchise a mascot.

Yes, that's where I asked where do we draw the line.

GUNSTAR RED

Hm, I wonder: are there specific divisional mascots? Like do anyu of the arcade people ahve a separate mascot?

[Black Squirrel]

There are points to be made about Flicky/Pengo - they do cameo in quite a few Sega arcade games (Flicky in Super Monaco GP, Pengo in Up'n Down) BUT... I wouldn't really go so far to say they were "mascots". No more than that Galaxian ship showing up in dozens of Namco games.

[doc eggfan]

Andlabs, on 02 February 2012 - 09:53 PM, said:

Hm, I wonder: are there specific divisional mascots? Like do anyu of the arcade people ahve a separate mascot?